Monday, March 19, 2018

Nayarit


We just learned about the Mexico state of Tlaxcala.

Another Mexico state is Nayarit.
It is a smaller state on the west coast of Mexico on the Pacific ocean, and includes the islands of Marías and Marietas.


(from: wikipedia - nayarit)

The coat of arms of Nayarit has a corn plant on the top left. This is for the capital city of Tepic, which comes from the Aztec word for corn, "tepictu".
The top right has a picture of a bow and arrow. The Cora people in this state believed in a mythical being called Nayarit, who their legends say invented the bow and arrow.
The bottom has white mountains, for the Sierra Madre Occidental montains.
The middle has the symbol of Mexico, an eagle eating a snake on a cactus.


(from: wikipedia - nayarit)

One of the islands named Marías has a prison on it, built in 1905 that is supposed to be "escape proof".


(from: wikipedia - islas marías)

On the island of Marietas, there is a hidden beach called "love beach" that is a place people go to visit.


(from: wikipedia - islas marietas national park)

There is a place named Ahuacatlan, that means "place where there is a lot of avocado".
In the Nahuatl language, the word ahua means avocado, and the word tlan means place.


(from: wikipedia - ahuacatlán)

Like many other states in Mexico, in Ixtlán del Río there are ancient ruins from people who used to live there thousands of years ago.

(from: wikipedia - ixtlán del rio (archaeological site))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Laramide Belt

Sunday, March 18, 2018

Ananias of Damascus


We just learned about Thaddeus, one of the Seventy Disciples.

Another of the seventy is Ananias of Damascus.

Ananias was one of the followers of Jesus after he died on the cross, and he was known in the Bible as the person who helped give Paul his sight back after he was blinded to help him believe in Jesus.


(from: wikipedia - ananias of damascus)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Solomon

Saturday, March 17, 2018

The Buddha, flanked by Herakles and Tychee


We just learned about the Bharhat Stupa.

Another sculpture from ancient Asia is The Buddha, flanked by Herakles and Tychee.

When the Greeks came through Asia, many of their stories about Greek mythology were told to people in the area, so when someone made a statue of the wise man Buddha, they put sculptures of the Greek characters Herakles and Tychee.

(from: wikipedia - greco-buddhist art)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Siena Cathedral Pulpit

Friday, March 16, 2018

Greek - The chair is small


We just learned that in Greek to say this house is big you say Αυτό το σπίτι είναι μεγάλο (Aftó to spíti eínai megálo).

Let's learn about more things we see every day.

To say The chair is small, we say Η καρέκλα είναι μικρή (I karékla eínai mikrí)

We can break it up into four words:

The - Η (I) - sounds like EE

chair - καρέκλα (karékla) - sounds like kah-RAY-klah

is - είναι (eínai) - Sounds like EE-nay

small - μικρή (mikrí) - Sounds like mee-KREE


So all together Η καρέκλα είναι μικρή sounds like EE kah-RAY-klah EE-nay mee-KREE.

center for the greek language
(from: wikipedia - center for the greek language)

ASL: This chair is small

Italian: La sedia è piccolo

German: Der Stuhl ist klein

Spanish: La silla es pequeña

French: La chaise est petit

Thursday, March 15, 2018

Speleoseismite


We just learned about the seismite.

Another part of earthquake science is Speleoseismite.

In caves there are things called stalagmites that grow from the floor, and stalactites growing from the ceiling.
Sometimes during earthquakes these break, or sometimes cave ceilings collapse.

These broken or tilted rock growths are the speleoseismites, and they can be used to study earthquakes that happened a long time ago.


(from: wikipedia - speleoseismite)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Milling

Wednesday, March 14, 2018

Grimpoteuthis - Dumbo Octopus


We just learned about the Blue Ringed Octopus.

Another cephalopod is the Grimpoteuthis, also known as the "Dumbo Octopus".

This octopus has fins on the side of it's head that look almost like ears, and it flaps these fins almost like dumbo the elephant flapping its ears to fly.
They swim along the ocean floor floating along, and then they jump on their prey and swallow it whole.

(from: wikipedia - grimpoteuthis)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Mountain Chicken Frog

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Superior Tibiofibular Ligaments


We just learned about the Patellar Ligament.

Another set of connective tissue is the Superior Tibiofibular Ligaments.

These are the ligaments up by the knee that connect the tibia (shin bone) to the fibula, the smaller bone in the lower leg.

There are two ligaments that tie the tops of the tibia and fibula together.
They are called the anterior (front) of the head of the fibula, and the posterior (back) of the head of the fibula.
The two bones are right next to each other, and at the top there is some connective tissue almost glueing them together.


(from: wikipedia - superior tibiofibular joint)


(from: wikipedia - posterior ligament of the head of the fibula)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Axon Terminal